


Til death do us part

by Cats_Dont_Float



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Blood, Blood and Injury, Character Death, Death, M/M, Sad, Sadstuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:26:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21586828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cats_Dont_Float/pseuds/Cats_Dont_Float
Summary: In a doomed timeline, Dave and Karkat share one last moment together in a corner of the battlefield.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	Til death do us part

_So this is where we are. It’s not where we had wanted to be. If half the world’s gone mad, the other half just don’t care, you see._

There’s bright red blood trailing down Karkat's face when you reach him. He’s sat at the bottom of what looks like the remains of a dead tree, huddled in a tiny little ball and shaking. There’s blood coming from his nose and mouth, as well as a wound on his head. When you call out his name weakly, he moves, and you see the way his dark sweater his glistening with what you know is blood without even having to ask.

“Dave,” his voice is raspy as he calls out to you, and you run the last few metres to him, dropping onto your knees on the dusty ground in front of him.

“So this is how it ends,” you say, trying to keep your voice light and jokey, despite the fact that there’s a very large stab wound through your stomach, just missing any major organs, but enough that you’re pretty sure the blood loss will get to you soon.

“I guess so,” he replies quietly, and a few seconds later there are red-tinted tears spilling down his cheeks.

“Oh, Karkat, don’t cry,” you murmur softly, and scoot over to sit by his side, pulling him against you with one arm around his waist. He winces slightly in pain at the movement, but doesn’t resist your embrace.

“I don’t wanna die,” he mumbles into your shirt, “I don’t wanna lose you. I only just got you.”

It’s then that you finally give in to the tears that have been threatening to spill for the last few minutes, and soon the two of you are both sobbing as you cling to each other.

“Our dead selves will find e-each other i-in the dream bubbles,” you manage to say between sobs, “And nothing will be a-able to keep us apart there.”

“Promise?” He asks weakly.

“Promise,” you reply softly, “There’s not a thing in this world that could stop me from loving you. Not even death.”

“Dave,” he whimpers, “It hurts.”

“I know,” you say, “It’ll be over soon.”

He coughs weakly, a few more trails of blood spilling out from his mouth, and you don’t even want to think about what injuries he’s hiding under his sweater.

“The others,” he asks, “Are they okay?”

“I don’t know,” you reply. It’s a lie. John’s dead, you know this for certain; you watched him get killed just seconds before you were stabbed. And you’re pretty sure you stumbled past a puddle of Kanaya’s bright green blood in your attempts to find Karkat. As for the rest of them… well you haven’t seen them for a long time, but distant shouts and screams are enough to tell you that it’s probably not going well.

Karkat crawls into your lap suddenly, pressing himself against your chest, and you tighten your arms around him. It makes your injuries hurt so much more, and you’re sure it must be the same for him, but at this point it doesn’t really matter. Everything will be over so soon.

“It’s not fair,” Karkat cries quietly, “I wanted to spend forever with you.”

You bite back a sob. “I wanted the same thing,” you reply, “But this fucking game didn’t want that from us.”

He reaches up, slides away your shades from your face, and stares into your bright red eyes for a few moments. You take that time to get a long look at him too, trying to burn the image of his soft, grey skin, messy hair and tiny little horns into the back of your eyes. You have to make sure he’s the last thing you see.

Your vision is starting to go blurry at the edges, and you’re getting so weak, so tired. So, before you run out of time, you press forward and kiss him. His tears mix with yours as he moves his head sideways to fit his lips against yours better, but you ignore it, focusing instead on the feeling of his soft lips and the way he’s raised one hand to run it through your hair slowly.

When you pull away, you don’t go far, keeping your forehead against his, your lips almost brushing his. “I love you so much,” you say, “So so so much.”

“I love you too,” he replies, and you feel his warm breath ghosting across your face. Tears begin to pour down his face even faster, and you know he must be reaching the end of his fight. “Stay with me?” He asks weakly.

“Til the very end,” you promise. You kiss him once more, telling yourself as you do it that it’s the last time. He must decide the same thing, because he kisses you back with as much energy and passion as he can manage. You can taste the salt of your own tears on your lips when you finally pull yourself away. He collapses against your chest then, and you tighten your grip on him. He moves, just slightly, just a small sign of life.

“I’m scared of death,” you admit, “This game’s been hell, but I don’t want everything to be over.”

“Me neither,” he says quietly. “Dave, I’m so tired.”

“I know, baby. I know,” you whisper back to him, "Let yourself sleep."

“I don’t want to.”

“You have to. It’s the best way.”

He looks up at you, raises one hand to cup your cheek. “Close your eyes,” he tells you, “I don’t want you to watch. I’ll close mine too.”

You nod. Then neither of you do it. You just stare at each other for a long, long time. Your shades are by your side, and Karkat passes them to you, slipping them back over your eyes. You remember when John gave them to you. It’s nice to have one last reminder of him with you as everything comes to an end.

“I love you,” Karkat whispers again between gasping breaths.

“I love you,” you reply. Your eyes slide shut behind your shades when you see him do the same, and you instantly want to open them again, want to stare at him for the rest of your short, pathetic life. But you don’t, for his sake and yours.

In your arms, you feel his breathing starting to slow as your own head starts to swim. You don’t say anything more to him, happy with your final words, and lean back further against the dead tree behind you. His breathing gets shallower and shallower, faltering, and you wish you couldn’t hear his lungs rattling as he draws in his last few gulps of air. The it slowly dies away to nothing but an awful absence of sounds that are even worse than the sound of his breathing.

You let out a fresh wave of sobs, clutching him tightly to you and gripping his lifeless hand as tightly as you can. You still don’t open your eyes.

A few moments later, death finally comes for you, seeking you out in the corner of a bloodied, doomed battlefield. You grip your lover as close to you as possible, and breathe out a last, cold breath into the dusty air. It’s like every time you’ve fallen asleep with Karkat in your arms before, and you cling onto the memories of the boy you love so dearly as you finally let your exhaustion and blood-loss overcome you. Death pulls you under into its endless, dark depths, and you finally submit yourself to it.

**Author's Note:**

> oopsie
> 
> starting a new thing where i create short fics based off my biggest fears (and oh boy do i have a lot of those). anyway this one's based off of death. yes i did cry a little bit writing this  
> song lyric at the start is from World Gone Mad by Bastille (it's a great song that i highly recommend)


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